SOCCER: SEEDORF'S JOB 'SAFE' DESPITE MILAN CRISIS

By Paul Virgo

(ANSA) - Rome, March 17 - AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi
has said Clarence Seedorf's job as coach of the seven-time
European champions is not at risk after their poor form
continued with Sunday's 4-2 home defeat to Parma.
Former Milan midfielder Seedorf has now picked up seven
defeats in 12 competitive games since replacing Massimiliano
Allegri at the helm of his old side in January, including last
week's 4-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid that saw Milan exit the
Champions League at the last-16 stage.

"Seedorf's position is not in doubt," three-time premier
Berlusconi told the people he spoke to after Milan's fourth
consecutive loss, ANSA sources said.

"He'll be Milan's coach next year too".
The Dutchman, who helped Milan win two Serie A titles, two
Champions League crowns and a Club World Cup as a player between
2002 and 2012, had no experience at the helm of a senior side
when he was put in charge.

The mood at Milan was already ugly before Sunday's defeat,
with fans protesting outside the ground, and it grew worse
during the match, as players and managers were booed and
insulted.
Berlusconi reportedly blames the current situation on the
club's transfer dealings and, therefore, on Chief Executive
Adriano Galliani.

"The Milan team has been built badly," Berlusconi said.

Milan, who had to play almost all of Sunday's match in 10
men after goalkeeper Christian Abbiati got sent off and conceded
the penalty for Parma's opener on five minutes, are 11th with 35
points, 40 points behind Juve.

Berlusconi's comments echoed those made by his daughter
Barbara, a member of the Milan board, in October after a poor
start to the season.
At the time, ANSA sources said Barbara Berlusconi
complained to her father that Milan had invested significant
amounts on players in the last two transfer windows, but the
results were disappointing because the money had been spent on
the wrong players.

The ensuing rift led Galliani, Berlusconi's
right-hand-man in soccer for Italian for almost 30 years, to say
he was quitting, before the row was patched up, with Barbara
Berlusconi being promoted to joint CEO.

Many have also complained that, while Galliani may have
made mistakes, Berlusconi has not invested the money to match
the club's history and ambition in recent years.

He has been trying to introduce a policy based on less
expensive, talented young players.
The turning point was the 2012 close season, when Milan
sold their two best players, Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic
and Brazil defender Thiago Silva, to Paris Saint-Germain.

One of the players who took most of the flak on Sunday was
Italy striker Mario Balotelli, who converted a penalty for his
11th Serie A goal of the season but often irritates fans with
poor discipline and inconsistency.

Former Milan striker Antonio Cassano, meanwhile, is hoping
for an Italy recall before the World Cup after scoring twice for
Parma Sunday in the latest in a series of strong recent
performances.
The 31-year-old, who like Balotelli has scored 11 goals
this season and has a reputation for indiscipline, has not
played for Italy since helping them reach the final of Euro
2012.

"I have never played at a World Cup and it's something I'd
love to do. I would be the happiest man in the world if it
happened," said Cassano after helping sixth-placed Parma stretch
their unbeaten run to 16 games.
Last week Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said that, while he
had never closed the doors on Cassano, "they are not too open
either"